Shorts!!!

With the wonderful weather, we were able to break out the shorts for Eli today. Happy!!

Demolition Derby

Tonight Eli held his own demolition derby in the kitchen with his Matchbox cars. Oh how I love having boys!! He was quite the character with no pants and his retro hat.

How does your garden grow?

Here's the start of our garden. We did a seed starter box with onions, cucumbers, lettuce mixes, peppers and tomatoes. So far everything but the peppers has sprouted and is growing. This is about 9 days after we planted them. Eli loves to check on his plants every day. Will be time to transplant to the garden soon!

Sick Day turned into Sick Week

Oh are we so happy that this week is over. We are exhausted and looking forward to going back to work tomorrow - sounds crazy I know but you'll soon understand.

Monday night Cole had a fever and a pretty rough night. He was up crying a lot. Tim held him most of the night (I think, I get my nights confused but they were all pretty much the same) and I handled Eli when he woke up in the middle of the night. Tuesday Tim stayed home with Cole as I had a conference. Cole had a rough day - lots of crying, not much sleeping or eating and a fever that surfaced in the afternoon / evening. Little did we know that that sick day would turn into a week out of school for Cole. Wednesday I stayed home with Cole and took him to the doctor. All signs pointed to an ear infection - either coming or going - so we started antibiotic ear drops. Cole & I met my friend Kelly, who is expecting a little boy in May, for lunch at Moe's. Cole did great for a little while but then he started getting very fussy. Another afternoon fever and not much sleep. All he wanted to do was be held. Quite pitiful. Thursday Tim stayed home with him and he did ok before lunch but then went downhill for the afternoon and evening. Tim took him back to the doctor on Friday and they did a blood test and a urine test looking to see if there was an infection of any kind. Nothing showed up but it was obvious that something was going on with him so the doctor gave us a prescription for amoxicillin. Started him on it Friday, Friday night was better and then things got worse on Saturday. He broke out in a rash all over his head, forehead, chest and back. He kept clawing at his head - it was horrible! We called the doctor's office and were told to immediately stop the amoxicillin and give him some benadryl. They called in a z-pak to the pharmacy as it appeared that Cole had a reaction to the amoxicillin - poor guy (and poor parents) couldn't catch a break. The reaction on his head and body was kinda scary. Today it's not as bad and definitely going away. He was in better spirits today but still not 100%. No fever, appetite getting better but very clingy. He's going to have a hard time at school tomorrow - sorry girls!!

Eli had a good weekend. Saturday morning he was allowed to watch way more tv than normal as we were dealing with the doctor's office for Cole's breakout. The highlight of our weekend was a package received from the cousins in Florida. Eli pushed it around downstairs wanting to open it so we took it upstairs to Baby Cole's room to open with Cole and Daddy. The box had Easter baskets and treats for both boys. It was wonderful!! So many treats and so thoughtful. Eli loved it - just like his Mommy, he loves a package!! After nap, we went to the library playground and met Ryan for some running around and outside play. They had a great time. Today we ran some errands and had fun baking cookies and having arts/crafts time.

Now, thankfully, both boys are asleep. We're hoping for a peaceful night and some rest. And hopefully we will get back to a somewhat normal routine this week.

An Easter package from the cousins

Checking out his goodies

This lollipop will last weeks!!

Baby Cole and his airplane Easter basket

Baby Cole today - playing dress up with Eli

Eli dressed them all up in hats

Doesn't Tim look thrilled?

A GREAT weekend - welcome Spring!!

Warning: LOTS of pictures ahead!

Such a wonderful weekend and so much fun stuff to report. I'll start with something funny. Friday afternoon when I picked the boys up from school, Eli started quizzing me on my colors. Turns out, Mr. Eli knows all his colors in English AND Spanish! I had no idea that he knew them all. He was so proud of himself and so am I. Another report from school, Cole was a drooling machine and they said he started teething in earnest after lunch. Well, we have a 2nd upstairs tooth to report!! It broke through and will make its' way into pictures soon. =)

Close to bedtime Friday night, Grandma & Grandpa C arrived. Eli was so excited to see them. We let him stay up a little later than normal so he could see them when they got here. Of course, Grandma spoiled him with a new book to read before bed.

Saturday was up and at 'em early as usual. Cole was up by 6am and then Eli up before 7am. We made sure Grandma & Grandpa were up as well and the day was off to a great start! The boys played while Tim & I made our first trip of the day to Lowe's. We got materials to make our garden boxes - getting the 12' boards home was pretty funny. I sat in the back of Tim's truck to weigh the boards down and keep them from flying out (Tim was worried). Tim built the boxes pretty quickly, with help from Eli, and then we put down the landscape fabric on our existing beds prior to laying down the new boxes. Once the boxes were in place, it was time to fill them with the soil we bought last weekend. Eli loved that process, from riding in the cart to helping spread the soil. After lunch, Tim & I made our second trip to Lowe's to get fencing material to fence our little garden plot. It turned out great! And went smoother and quicker than we imagined - that never happens!! While all this was going on, Grandma & Grandpa were playing their hearts out with Eli & Cole. The boys loved it and the grandparents soaked up all the grandbaby love. It was such a gorgeous day - we were outside all day. Welcome Spring - so happy you're here!

Grandma & Grandpa left before we had dinner. We are so thankful that they came to visit and give us a break to get our garden ready. After dinner, we took the boys on neighborhood walk in the wagon - Cole's first wagon ride and he loved it. The boys were so cute together. Eli was quite huggy with his little brother all day. The love between those two makes my heart so happy. After a full day of playing and action, the boys went to sleep very easily. And believe it or not, Tim & I even watched a movie!!

Today was another busy wonderful day. I have to say, I love the warmer weather and lots of daylight. Cole took an early morning nap so when he got up, we made a family trip to the grocery store. Somehow the 8 items on my list multiplied with all of us there and ended up costing over $100! Eli & Tim played outside for a bit while Cole & I put away groceries and he had a snack. We had fun baking chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and then planting seeds in our indoor seed starter box. Eli is so excited about our garden. He wants to help with every single step. Hopefully he'll enjoy eating the veggies as well! The rest of our afternoon consisted of more playing, more baking and a walk to the library to play on the playground. We had a great family dinner and then bath and bed for the boys. Both were so tired (again) from so much outside time that they gave us no trouble going to sleep. Now we're just trying to get ourselves ready for another busy work week - seems like every week is busy!!

Happy Cole in a new booster seat - he hates the high chair so we made a change and he's much happier

Monster trucks AND dress-up with Grandpa & Baby Cole

Rednecks in the city - riding in the back of Tim's truck

Eli & Grandpa playing on the swings - I don't think they saw me take this

Daddy's little helper

BEFORE - Our little garden plot

My cute boys

Eli is such a ham

Cole getting some giggles and swinging from Grandma

Tim hauling soil with Eli hitching a ride

"Go Daddy Go"

Spreading soil with Grandpa

Cole loved hanging in the cart too

Belle ran around like a happy little puppy - she loved the sun and warmth

Boxes and soil in place - next up grid and fencing

Monster Jam roll call - Eli now has 15 trucks that he loves to play with and create his own Monster Jam

AFTER - Gridded boxes - let's hope our Square Foot Garden goes well!

"Hey can I get a push?"

Practicing Superman on the swing

Big Hug - Cole wasn't sure what to think

Just plain happy - LOVE IT!

Mommy & Baby Cole

Eli helping install the fence

Is the fence to keep deer out or Eli in?!

Farmers in the city

Even Cole likes playing with Monster Trucks

Grandpa & Grandma C love their grandboys

Heading out on Cole's 1st wagon ride

Having fun

More hugs - Eli must have hugged Cole 10 times on our walk

"I love it Mommy!!"

a sweet boy and his trucks

his own Monster Jam freestyle - slap wheelie time

Getting the seed starter ready

Seeds planted - cucumbers, lettuce, peppers, onions, tomatoes

climbing on the play structure

and learning to climb over to the slide

Cole getting some slide action

Mid week Visitors

We had a special treat this week - a mid week visit from our friends Holly & Jon and their kids Jack & Casey. They live in Vermont and were working their way back up the East Coast toward home coming back from a conference in Atlanta and spent last night with us. It was such a treat to see them. Eli LOVED having Jack here. Jack is almost a year older than Eli but Eli is just as big! They interacted very well and had lots of fun playing together. Once I got home with Eli & Cole, the boys ran around outside (thankful for the extra daylight!!). They rode bikes, played tag (or shove in Eli's case, have I mentioned before that he's intense?) and played in the backyard. We had a great dinner and social time with our friends before we had to move the kids toward bed. Eli was so wound up that he didn't want to go to bed and wanted to keep playing with Jack. Casey is 10 months old and has just started walking. She wanted to do everything the big boys were doing. Cole is not as mobile but he wanted to be there with all the action as well.

This morning Eli woke up asking "where's my Jack"? We enjoyed bagels for breakfast (homemade by me!) and a little more time with our friends before heading to work and school. We're thankful for friends that remain friends regardless of geography. It's amazing that there are some people in your life that you don't see often but you pick back up like you were never apart when you see them. Thanks Holly & Jon for the visit!

Two cute boys riding down the road

Eli has become quite the daredevil riding down the driveway - this was Amy's driveway. I think he might be a downhill biker!!

Casey giving the bike a go

Game of tag - it moved over to Amy's house because Henry was there.

Eli showing Jack his monster truck book

Such SWEET kiddos - Eli & Cole, Jack & Casey